To some extent, Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen H. Hicks' entire professional life has been preparation for her current job.
Hicks started at the Pentagon when she was 23 years old, as a presidential management intern in 1993 and rose through the policy world to senior executive service.
"I've talked to some of my own NCOs about this," she said in an interview. "I started in service, my own kind of service, probably on a timeline as many of them did."
Hicks stayed in civil service through 2006 and segued into the nonprofit world where she served as a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. President Barack Obama appointed her as the deputy undersecretary of defense for strategy, plans and forces. She then rose to be principal deputy undersecretary of defense for policy.
Hicks served on the National Commission for the Future of the Army.
On February 8, Hicks made history as the first woman to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate as Deputy Secretary of Defense.
Hicks grew up in a military family and understands what it is like to have a career of service. "I know what the sacrifices are for family members," she said. "And I want them to know that when I get up and come into work now, all of that is at the forefront of my mind. I'm thinking about how we really deliver for them every day, how we use taxpayer dollars, … effectively, to make sure they're as ready and as capable as they can be."
Hicks holds a doctorate in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a masters from the University of Maryland's School of Public Policy. She received her undergraduate degree magna cum laude from Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts.